In-Box Review

Introduction

The US GMC CCKW-352 truck were produced in huge numbers and served all over the world during World War Two and after. The latest offering of the US GMC CCKW-352 from HobbyBoss is the Machine Gun Turret Version.

Contents

The Hobby Boss box is a top lid made from quite durable cardboard, the bottom of the box is also of the same durable cardboard. The art work that Hobby boss have put on the front of the box is very good and well presented. The sprues are provided in a beige colour and the box is packed full of sprues.
A one off. Mainly the engine and exhaust.
B one off. Is part of the chassis and interior of the cab.
C two off. Wheel hubs, suspension.
D five off. Tires, wheel rims
K one off. Exhausts steel chassis baffles
W one off. The cab floor, doors, dash board
P one off. The floor of the trailer, under chassis of the flat bed.
N one off. Rear panels of the trailer and frame work for over the top.
S & R both sprues joined. 50mm machine gun and mounts for mounting it on top of the truck.
T one off. Clear sprue
A one off. First of photo-etch sheet.
B one off. Second photo-etch sheet.
Decal sheet.
One piece molded cab.
Length of rope.
Length of wire.
Poly caps.
Instruction book.
Colour profile sheet.

Review

My first impressions when opening the box was sod the review I really want to build this kit. There really is a lot of plastic in the box and it looks incredible so letís take a closer look. Randomly picking up sprue's the first I came across is the two in one sprue with the 50 cal and mounting for the top of the cab. The 50 cal itself is very nice and quite well detailed with the barrel going down to a finer point. The mounting is one piece circular rail allowing the gun to be traversed around during any enemy action.

The main frame fitting sits at the back of the cab to support the rest of the frame work that supports the circular mounting. Keeping it off the cab roof and at standing height for any soldier who is standing up through the roof to fire the gun. The detail level on most of the parts is good although some of the parts is very small and fragile.

The engine detail is very good and you build it up literally from the bottom up. The sump blocks and head are all present as is the gear box. The fan is very nice and will add some great realism to the engine. The two steel chassis that run the length of the truck, on the inside of the chassis has some injector pin marks but they should not be noticeable once the model is built. The leaf springs look quite authentic; the drive shaft comes in three parts looking how you would expect it to look. A single wheel which looks very good with clear nut and bolt detail to enhance the overall look.

Looking next at the dashboard some raised area for the dials and even a glove box, the radiator is very accurate with a second fitting for the very impressive fan itself. The bonnet is well molded and shaped right to fit flush on the front part of the body. The front grill and bars look nice some minor flash and I do mean minor, the side panels look good with molded air ways to help cool the engine down. Some of the Interior parts are also here with the steering wheel. The one piece molded cab looks ok detail wise but has two weak points where the window screen fits and some care will be needed to stop this from snapping

I especially like the way they have tried to get the wooden grain onto the flat bed with some lighter painting it will hopefully show through. The side panels are very similar with the wood effect Hobby Boss have really tried with this kit to get it to look a natural finish. The chassis for the flat bed looks slightly twisted but otherwise ok.

The floor plan of the cab has some small detail to it, the doors are molded in one piece but look good. The side panels to the lower side of the front of each side of the cab has some injector marks on them which will be visible if you intend to leave the bonnet up to show off the very well detailed engine.

There is some more of the nice wood effect slats that go to make up the rest of the flat bed, also on the same sprue is the steel supports for the trailer they do have some minor detail on them around the bend as a support bracket. I really like what Hobby Boss have done with the wheels the front wheels they have produced some good level of detail especially around the hubs. The tyres are slightly disappointing as they have made in two halves leaving you a seam when you join them together.

The rear leaf suspension looks very substantial and gives realism to the overall effect of being able to carry a lot of weight in the back of the truck. There are five sprues with the tires and wheel rims on all of which look overall good.
.
The clear sprue is what you come to expect from these newer models and are crisp and very clear with no distortion when looking through them.

Instruction book, Decals and photo-etch

Hobby Boss use the old form of black and white instruction booklet, the booklet is 20 pages in total which is broken down. Page 1 is a key of the instruction symbols, page 2 is a plan of the parts and what sprue they are on. From page 3 to page 20 it is the build.

The build starts off with the engine moving on through the build in sections on the one page till you get to the chassis which then brings it all together. The instructions are clear and easy enough for a beginner to follow and nothing looks to tricky in the first page. The steps on the following pages is pretty much the same but when you get to photo-etch you get the PE and if needed to be bent then the dark picture showing bending comes in before you get to it. When you meet a black box with a question mark in it gives you different options so stopping and making a decision as to what you want to do.

As you turn each page it looks like there is a lot to do but it is more the way they have done their instructions which is easy to follow more than a huge amount of work. Once the engine is done and the chassis is built around it and gearbox is all complete you move on to the suspension and the wheels. I do like the way the wheels come with separate wheel rims giving it some depth and realism.

The cab come next to the build with again clear instructions to help build it. There are quite a few parts to this section, nothing to taxing though. One the cab is finally finished you start the 50 cal and mounting around the cab, before moving onto the flat bed and the building of the delightful wood pattern once completed the back is mounted to the chassis.

The spare wheel and the cab come next which are fixed onto the chassis in a similar manner to the back of the truck. Adding the gun mount to the back of the cab and some parts to the side of the truck you are all about done. There is an A-4 size colour profile for painting and placing decals to the truck. The colour for painting is from Mr Hobby , Vallejo, Master model, Tamiya and Humbrol

Decals Photo-Etch
The decal sheet is a small one with only the three stars some numbers and letters finally some decals for the dashboard complete the sheet. The two photo-etch sheets are large and some small parts on them to be bent round but they look workable and some of the parts will without a doubt bring this kit up to a more realistic finish.

Conclusion

Overall I felt almost compelled to build it rather than review it that said I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the kit all in all it is very good. The instructions are easy to follow and should not cause anyone any real problems it is a pleasing kit visually and gives some serious options on a diorama theme. It is a kit that I would recommend but I like most kits especially soft skins.

SUMMARY

Highs: The kit as a whole is very good, it has a good all round build plenty of detail with the full engine build. Lows: Their is a few minor issues like sorting out some injection marks if you are to leave the bonnet open. Verdict: A great model that I believe will be easy if not a pleasure to build, I will let you know in due course. My only little qualm is the price.

Comments

Thanks, Adie!
Yes, the HOBBY BOSS CCKW-352 and 353 kits are very nice!
Except for their "Hard" Cabs- See the numerous and very comprehensive threads posted by Mike, 165thspc. The Cabs are misshapen, and dimensionally incorrect. Mike shows comparison photos in his CCKW-builds that point these glaring errors out quite plainly...
I've used the much older ITALERI CCKW-352/353 "Hard" Cabs quite successfully in lieu of the HB Cabs, in a couple of my latest CCKW-builds. Prior to those, I just used the ITALERI CCKW-kits, and substituted DEF's resin CCKW-series "Sagged" Tire/Wheel sets, and ABER's PE sets for my detail-enhancements.
Several other modellers, including Mike, posting on ARMORAMA, kit-bashed the ITALERI Cabs with The HB CCKW kits before I did, so I, in NO WAY, want to imply that I was the first to do so. To them, and ONLY them, should credit be given in first performing this relatively simple kit-bash.
In any case, sticklers for accuracy have discovered that this small "kit-bash" is the way to fly, if one wants a model of the "Hard" Cab to be more correct in appearance...
Other than the "Hard" Cabs, the HOBBY BOSS CCKW kits don't want for much else...

Except for a lot of patience in the assembly of those f@*@g multi-part axles... [/quote]
Hi, Pawel!
"Patience" is my middle name... Try building an HO brass Steam Locomotive to "prototype" from scratch, or rigging a "four mast "Ship of the Line"... IMO, assembling "those f@*@g multi-part axles" are a "piece of cake" by comparison...
But please, that's just MY opinion, so please don't take offense...

As said before, the HB cabs are wrong, and still surprised seems they have no plans/intentions to get these corrected/updated. A GOOD GMC family of kits would sell like candy amongst hardcore GMC fans, but with every HB kit needing an extra Italeri one to be cannibalized just for a correct cab, that seems no way.